It All Gets Harder
by Cannibalistic Oreos
Summary: Yuugi expected life after Zorc's destruction to be easy and breezy. But when Marik and Bakura become honest with him over the sadness of their own losses, it's apparent that he hasn't reached his fairytale ending quite yet. - Spoilers to end of series.


There was a patter of footsteps, and the barely audible crack of fire outside the bedroom door. With a sniffle of his nose Yuugi ended up parting his eyes, struggling to make out something in the dark. He had already forgotten that there was nothing to see in this room. It was empty save for a bed. They had left the bed open for Thea and Mokuba, while everyone else piled around on the floor on whatever bedding Marik was able to scrounge up. Joey had ended up wrapping around Tristan like a sobbing baby, with Duke uncomfortably curled into a ball on his side just past them. The floor was cold. The entire tomb was cold- cold, dark stone with a few candles that had been blown out for bedtime.

Their plane back to America wasn't leaving for hours- not until afternoon. Marik had offered everyone somewhere to stay overnight. Yuugi was expecting a mansion out of a government official like Ishizu, but it was a dank, cold, hole in the ground. It looked and felt like it was built thousands of years ago. And it didn't take long for Yuugi to see that this was, without a doubt, the tomb Marik and his family had been keeping for all this time and through everything that had happened since they met. This is the tomb where Marik's father had been killed by that darker side of him. This is where that darker side had been born after Marik was forced to endure receiving that tattoo. This was the scene of it all. And here they were, sleeping on Odion's bedroom floor as if nothing had ever happened.

The past of the place only made Yuugi's quest for sleep harder. It had been hours since he had closed his eyes, but he was still laying awake. At first it was just jet lag, but it had quickly turned into tears. Never ending tears. He was constantly rolling around to try and find a position on the stone floor that would promote his sleep, but nothing worked. He was just as restless after five hours as he was after two. He couldn't stand this. He couldn't sleep without looking at his feet to see the pharaoh waiting for him to wake up. He couldn't sleep knowing that the puzzle he had spent so much time on wasn't on his desk waiting to be put on in the morning. He just couldn't do it.

He started to roll over again, onto his back. He stared upward at the ceiling, hating that moist feeling that had coated his eyelids. The pharaoh couldn't be gone. It just wasn't possible. Completely impossible. He had been there for years. The idea that after all those years he had completely just ceased to exist… It was horrifying. And the more he thought about it… The more his tear ducts began to water again. He sniffed back any mucus that was threatening to run, rolling over again- now to the opposite side as before. He squeezed out a couple tears before opening his eyes, hoping to look at a peacefully sleeping Bakura. He was free of the spirit of the ring and Yuugi hoped that meant he was now able to sleep easy. But when his eyes opened, Bakura was gone.

He stared at the blanket laying there for a moment, but eventually turned his head to look out the bedroom door. Had he gone to the washroom? It seemed likely. But upon closer inspection, the wall across from the doorway was slightly illuminated. There was a candle lit somewhere in this tomb. Groggily, Yuugi began to sit up. He wiggled his toes slightly, blinking his eyes alternatively to try and free some of the sleep sand. His socks had come loose in the night from all the tossing and turning, and his pants were chafing something horrid. He started to sit up, but paused when his mind started stirring again. He didn't want to walk down that hallway. He didn't want to walk it without the pharaoh asking him what he was doing. He didn't want to walk it without being able to reassuringly hold the puzzle in both his hands.

_Grow up, Yuugi. There's a first for everything. You can do this. You still have his courage, after all. _

He took in a deep breath before bending both his legs back, managing to wobble his way up onto them. There was the first step. He had done it. He wiggled his toes again as he tempted to get comfortable in his half-off sock, before he gave up and took it off. Nervously he headed for the doorway, putting a hand to the stone as he leaned around to look down the hallway. There was definitely a light flickering at the end of it. He looked back over his shoulder at all the sleeping figures in the bedroom behind him. Kaiba was sleeping sitting up, somehow- with his back against the bed. He talked such a big game but he was so protective of his brother. This put a smile on Yuugi's face, and despite being disappointed when he instinctually reached for his puzzle, he headed down the hallway with that smile on his face. He blinked back any tears that threatened to form.

When he reached the living area, he saw Marik and Bakura sitting together at what he could only assume was the kitchen table. Marik was sitting up with his knees at his chest along the bench, and Bakura had his head hopelessly dropped in his hands. Yuugi rubbed his eye a quick time again before he headed inside the room, awkwardly letting his hands hang limp at his side.

"What's going on, you guys?"

Marik pretty blandly glanced over, where as Bakura lifted his head up and looked only with his eyes. It was hard to tell with just a candle as light, but from what Yuugi could tell, Bakura's eyes had burned bloodshot and his face was a deep, painful pink. His smile started to fade as he caught sight of it. What could Bakura be so upset about? He started closer again, lifting a hand to put on his friend's shoulder.

"Bakura, what's the matter?"

He didn't speak. Even as Yuugi put a hand on his back and gave it a rub down, he kept his head down, he shuddered as he tried to inhale, his voice cracking and escaping as a high pitched whimper in his throat. His face fell back into his hands. Marik brought his feet down, moving his elbows to the tabletop. He almost seemed irritated in the way he moved. But he wasn't irritated with Bakura.

"You're not the only person who lost a companion in this mess, Yuugi," Marik snapped, avoiding eye contact. He kept his eyes on the sobbing Bakura. This threw Yuugi for a loop. They were mad at him? But why? He took a defensive step forward, waiting for Bakura to say something. But all he did was continue to cry. He sobbed loudly into his hands, and Marik closed his eyes as though it was painful to watch. Yuugi shook his head out of the frustration, finally starting to raise his voice.

"What _happened_!"

Bakura finally lifted his head. He lifted his head, he lifted his shoulders, and he lifted to his feet. After slamming his fists onto the table, he shot a hard glare over to Yuugi, which made the smaller boy flinch slightly. He wasn't used to such a strong gaze from someone like Bakura.

"You _killed_ him," he spat. Marik's face seemed to tense further from the pain of ignoring what was happening. "You took away the only friend I've had since I was a boy. And worst yet, you took away from me the only thing I had left of my father. All to set free the bloody _Pharaoh!_" Bakura was getting overworked. And it didn't take him long to realize it, either. He could see in Yuugi's face how he was hurting the other and he attempted to bite back the rest of the bitter comments that were stinging at his tongue. He took in a deep breath, closing his eyes and returning to his seat. "I know that the pharaoh's spirit needed to be set free. And I know that the items are better off where they are now. But without the ring… I'm all alone again. The spirit may have not been the best roommate, but he was still a presence to help convince me people cared. Even if he could only convince me of that through the will to defeat him."

Yuugi honestly had no idea what to make of this. Bakura was… _upset_ that the spirit of the millennium ring had been sent away? It made sense. Bakura was unconscious for nearly all of the spirit's take overs. He could only hear what had happened by word of mouth. And who could have known how the spirit acted towards him when they were alone? For all Yuugi knew, Bakura could have been the spirit's one true friend; the person who knew him inside and out. Just like Yuugi was to the pharaoh. He began to drop his head apologetically, fighting off the urge to gnaw his lip. Desperately biting back the tears. His head tilted slightly to the side, trying to choke out words without making the crying too obvious to everyone else.

"I'm sorry, Bakura," he managed, the pitch of his voice swinging in a failed attempt to keep level. He sniffed audibly to keep the mucus back, his fingers rolling into his fists. "I didn't have a choice… We didn't have a choice. He was… He was going to destroy everything… The past, the present… The future…" But that didn't make anything better, did it?

"I know, Yuugi," Bakura whispered, staring blankly at the table top. His eyes eventually idly crawled upward to the flame that was restfully floating atop the candle. With no wind it was free to stand upright. The glow wasn't nearly enough to fill the room. And Bakura briefly believed the spirit of the ring was waiting in one of the darkened corners. Believed, or hoped. He wasn't sure. And he truly didn't care to decide. He sighed a bit, closing his eyes and moving his head back into his hands. "I know you didn't."

Yuugi almost breathed a sigh of relief. But as one scolding ended, another began. As soon as Bakura had managed to calm down, Marik was throwing his glares upward towards Yuugi.

"And what about me?" he growled, seemingly getting back to his old, confrontational self. He kept his eyes burning on Yuugi without disdain. "What world were you saving when you killed my darkness? Only your _own._" He took in a deep breath, finally turning away as he let it out. "He may have been an imaginary friend gone wrong, but he was the only friend I had until my brother reached out to me. And now I'm practically alone. If I didn't have my brother and sister I don't know where I would be. I can't even imagine how Bakura's feeling."

Bakura almost seemed to flinch at the sound of his name. And he dropped his head further towards his chest. Yuugi only continued to frown, his brow furrowing. Marik was angry, too? What other option did they have when it came to Marik's darker side? He had taken away so many of their friends… He wanted to continue to take away the lives of more people. He couldn't have just sat there and let it happen. Yuugi's confidence began to retreat. It _was_ only his world they were protecting. Only his friends.

"I… I'm sorry…" He had no idea protecting the planet would have casualties. All he wanted was to protect everyone- to keep everyone happy- to get the pharaoh back home. He didn't know doing that hurt anyone. Anyone but himself, at least… "I didn't know…" 

"Of course you didn't," Marik snarled, getting back to his feet. He grabbed the candle from the tabletop, and started off towards the other hallway. Bakura seemed a bit startled, but he managed to get to his feet and follow Marik in the opposite direction. Yuugi's eyes widened a bit, and he leaned forward. What was happening?

"Wait! Marik, Bakura…" All the comfort he had built from the night before was falling apart. It was absolutely awful. That disgusting feeling that was in his stomach when the pharaoh disappeared was starting to swirl all over again. He watched the two figures retreat, the light that once glowed around him starting to walk off with them.

"Good night, Yuugi," Bakura muttered, pausing to glance over his shoulder. Though he still avoided the eye contact. He quickly turned back and continued to follow. Yuugi watched practically helplessly as his friends disappeared into another room, being left alone in the darkness of the tomb. He felt his lip quiver once, before the tears were fresh on his face.

He thought everything was doing to be right again now that the pharaoh was at rest and the spirit of the ring had been destroyed. But it was apparent now, that all it did was make problems around here worse than they needed to be.


End file.
